Over one billion smartphones now support Augmented Reality. And the new technology, which displays digital information over real-world environments, is predicted to be the main driver of the $108 billion VR/AR market by 2021. It’s no surprise, then, that it’s also expected to fundamentally change the way consumers shop. Promising deeper engagement and higher sales, Augmented Reality retail solutions are already being used by forward-thinking brands to delight their customers, drive sales, and maximize ROI.

Retailers never leave any stone unturned when it comes to pleasing their customers. Newer ways to attract new customers and tactics to retain and hold the loyal customers are been implemented regularly.

So here are some ways AR can be deployed in Retail:

AR technology plays a big part in revolutionizing brick-and-mortar stores to make them ‘smarter’. Multi-branded stores and supermarkets have a wide range of varieties in their displays and hence their customers easily get lost in the maze of product options.

Empowering consumers with all the necessary information to help them understand the features of the store and allowing them to engage with the premise optimally should be the goals of future-forward retailers. AR and VR can make a consumer’s shopping reality, a very smooth experience. It can help customers with guided store navigation to get them to the aisle they are looking for.

A perfect shopping experience is not achieved until a customer is satisfied by looking at all the available colour options and variants of a chosen product. Especially women! They want to know all the colour and print options available in their chosen dress or stilettos.
AR can help consumers make better decisions and allow them to feel empowered when browsing catalogues by projecting selected products in the areas and corners that they want — meaning they can simply browse from home. An AR-enabled mobile app can take up this role of the salesperson. The customer can simply scan the product code in his/her smartphone, and the app will show the available colour options and sizes available in the scanned product.

The first impression is the prime, ever-lasting and difficult to erase. This makes you closer to use Augmented Reality in your retail business, such that when your prospective buyers visit you, they have no option left but to get engraved by the Augmented and Virtual Reality.
Other than augmenting the retail experience and customer experience for consumers, retailers have to also focus on fostering brand loyalty. AR-powered marketing and advertising is definitely an effective way to reach to consumers in an interactive way. AR-based marketing can help create personalized advertising that actually allows consumers to control the virtual environment they are in and the kind of experiences they want to immerse in.

Shoppers are chiefly hindered by the long waiting queues outside the trial rooms during their shopping voyage. Most of the time they skip buying a product as they have less time and a long queue for the trial ahead of them.
All of this can be skipped by using the technology of augmented reality in your retail business. Apparel stores can avail their customers with virtual trial rooms where they can visualize themselves in the chosen pair of clothes in front of a mirror/screen and decide on their own if the colour, design, and fit suit them or not without physically trying them on.

Contact-less Retail Experience was originally published in AR/VR Journey: Augmented & Virtual Reality Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.